Plumbing NVQ Level 2

[kt.]

My current career is ending and I have done introductory courses in property maintenance:

Plastering, tiling, Kitchen & bathroom fitting and brickwork.

I am still in employment until Xmas and considered self employment in these areas but need to go firm on a new career direction. Between my current employment contract I have done some weekend jobs of garden walls, pointing and brick rendering, and a few plastering jobs.  I have an opportunity to do my NVQ 2 in plumbing with a national training provider OLCI, and anticipate it taking me 9-12 months maximum.  At almost 42, is this a worthwhile career to pursue.  ( At this time, it is not my intention to train as a gas engineer in the future)

As this is a major life changing event and it is an expensive course, any decision needs to be the right one.  Advice / opinions please.

[kt.]

[Digeroo]

I would think that this would depend on your area.  Reliable maintenance people are hard to come by in some areas. 

It is a very physical job.  Have you looked at this

http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/plumbing-courses/48605-45-want-retrain-plumber.html

Because of problems with plumbers many people are getting service contract with British Gas or the water companies.

[daveyboi]

Any hands on skills properly learnt are worthwhile.

I would suggest though that the gas safe qualification is an important part of a maintenance business and for a plumbing business even more so as it gives you the opportunities to work on the more profitable things in the trade.

[Ellen K]

Well, I will speak up.  Here are some of my impressions about the job:

1) you need a van and a van full of kit, like a drill that will put a hole in brickwork for a waste pipe, lots of stuff of commercial grade.  The set up cost from scratch will be significant.

2) you need to be quite strong to get double rads up stairs on your own and the like - probably best to have a mate on hand who can pop round to help when required.

3) you need to be quite cynical.  "Can you come round and service the boiler" is often customer-speak for "my boiler is toast, can you fix it for £40?".  You need to be tough.

4) you need capabilities which come from vast experience - being able to see what's wrong straight away and being able to do jobs fast.  A tiling jobbie which might take you a week would take an experienced tiler a day.  So you are not going to be able to compete with some quotes in the early days.

It's like a lot of things - you do the real learning on the job.  There are a lot of youngsters earning £12/hour in plumbing companies to learn the trade to then go freelance.

I'm sure you have googled OLCI and you can see the opinions are a bit mixed.

Good luck if you decide to do it.  I have a friend who did a 1 year MSc after he was made redundant and it did eventually work out for him but he had a few jobs in between which were pretty low paid.

[ACE]

I learned plumbing years ago with the Readers Digest DIY book. Since then I have re-plumbed 4 old houses. Put in two central heating systems, before it became illegal to connect gas boilers. I also learned how to re- wire, re-roof and lay concrete drives. done an evening class in brick laying and plastering.
Saved a fortune over the years, and after buying really cheap rundown houses, moved on up to no mortgage and a nice place to live. Out of all the jobs I really hated plumbing, why anybody wants to do it as a living I don't know. Go in for electrickery, a lot cleaner (no bogs for a start) and although installations have to be passed nowadays, it should be a good earner. PAT Testing is needed everywhere now and solar panels need wiring in. Can't go wrong, unless you really want to be Kn0b The Plumber.

[ACE]

I suppose you being a plasterer, you can only have 2 inches of builders bum showing. Will the NVQ level two allow you to remove the tape measure braces favoured by tv celebrity builders and sport the full 4 inches